CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Another traitor…I can’t wait to sink my blade into his treacherous skin.”
Jena was extremely angry. She was actually getting a little too loud and I had to clam her down before she gave away our hiding spot. She immediately calmed down and we watched as Adamus and Goldwine walked down the hallway towards us. They stopped at Goldwine’s door and then he unlocked it with a silver key. There were also two guards with them as well. Adamus and Goldwine then entered the room and shut then door, leaving the other two guards outside.
“What now?” I whispered to Jena.
“Just wait and see what happens I guess. Actually, I don’t think we should even try to do anything. Why not wait it out? Goldwine will eventually lead us to Mankar anyway. Isn’t that what we want after all?”
I suppose she was right, but it just felt so weird hiding in a closet. I mean, I’m of course used to sneaking around and hiding, but this is totally different.
“Yeah, I guess. How long do you think it will take to get to this island?”
“Not too long if it really is only a couple of miles from the coast; probably no more than thirty minutes or so I’d say. But it’s weird, I don’t recall there being an island. If it’s that close to land, wouldn’t have we noticed the island?”
I simply shrugged. I’ve never even been this far up in the northwest.
“Beats me. I’ve never been to this part of the province before.”
That ended the conversation, and we sat in silence as the ship finally set sail for the island. The ride was fairly smooth; although I shouldn’t have been surprised since the ship was no doubt in top-notch condition. This was Count Ormellius Goldwine after all. Things were going as planned until after ten minutes after we left Anvil. Jena I saw a stubby heavy-set Imperial with a mass of facial hair. He looked rather angry as if someone had stolen his lunch. He was mumbling something under his breath as he knocked on Goldwine’s door. He waited, rather impatiently I might add, for about fifteen seconds until at last the door was opened by Adamus.
“You needed something, sir?” The Imperial said, trying his best to mask his bad mood.
“Yes, the Count does not like the feel of his pillows and he wishes for you to fetch his some more. Oh, and while your at it fix me a bowl of stew afterwards,” Adamus said rather demandingly.
The Imperial merely nodded and then Adamus shut the door in his face. The short man grumbled a bit and walked over to our hiding spot. Jena and I dove behind the pillows and only hoped he would take the first one he saw instead of digging around. I was now very afraid and even almost regretted this hiding spot, but it was too late for second guess now.
He opened the door and poked his head inside, searching for the perfect pillow for his master. He was so close I could smell his breath because he was breathing so heavily, and let me tell you it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Also it appeared that the man enjoyed talking to himself. He was having a whole conversation!
“Stupid Goldwine and his new lackey, Adamus. They think they’re so tough. HA! They don’t even know lucky they are to be alive as it is. Surely the sneaky Rayden will slay them soon enough, just like they did Lex. Oh how happy I will be when that times comes, HA! Goldwine is so lucky that I’m on his side. If I was ever given the chance I’d hightail it out of here faster than you can say ‘Ormellius Goldwine’s a jerk!’”
It was so funny hearing the man talk to himself. Jena and I were on the verge of bursting out with laughter, but thankfully we were able to keep in quiet for the time being. The man finally grabbed a couple of pillows and left the closet and again knocked on Goldwine’s door. Adamus answered the knocking, took the pillows, and then reminded the man about his stew. He nodded at Adamus and left, likely for the kitchen.
As he trudged down the hallway in a slower-than-normal manner, Jena whispered something to me that immediately caught my attention.
“I’ve got an idea, Rayden. You heard that man when he was in here. He’s obviously not a fan of Goldwine and Adamus. I think we should that to our advantage.”
“How so?”
“Well, he is obviously not on good terms with Goldwine. Maybe there’s a story behind all of that.”
“So would do you want to do, bring him in here and interrogate him?”
“Yes. When he brings back Adamus’s meal you will wait until he starts down the hall, and then sneak up from behind. Here, use this to silence any screams he might have.”
She handed me a long piece of cloth, and I knew what to do with it. I would obviously have to wrap the cloth around the short Imperial’s mouth. So, not ten minutes later, the man returned with a bowl of stew. He knocked on the door for the third time, and once again, just as the other two times, Adamus answered the call. He took the bowl, raised a hand signaling for the short man to wait, and sniffed the bowl. Then he sneered at the short Imperial and aggressively handed him back the bowl. Stew splashed up into the short man’s face and Adamus growled, “It’s too cold. Warm it up.” Then he abruptly slammed the door in his face again.
The short man started to shake with anger and turned to walk back to warm the stew. Then I quietly opened the door and silently, but quickly, tiptoed over to the man and wrapped my towel around his head and gripped in tightly. He dropped the bowl of stew and it almost crashed to the ground, but thankfully I caught it with my right hand while still holding onto the towel with my other. I set the bowl peacefully to the ground, but unfortunately stew had spilled onto the red carpet that made up the floor of the ship. Goldwine wouldn’t like that at all.
The man swung his arms wildly, but with no prevails. Before the door of Goldwine’s room could be opened, I dragged the short man into the closet and then closed the door. Jena then slammed him to the floor, still keeping the cloth on his mouth. She ordered for him to stop his screaming and twitching, and when he did not she kicked him hard in the side and smash the side of his hide into the wall. A small gash appeared on the left side of his head and blood began to trickle down from the wound. Finally he obeyed her orders and was at last silent. So Jena lifted the cloth from his mouth and said softly, “Shut your mouth or I’ll cut your throat…”
I knew very well she was lying about that of course, but obviously I kept my mouth shut about that. It appeared her words were rather effective on the fat man.
“Yes, just don’t kill me…please!”
“You’re going to answer some questions for me and my partner.”
He nodded.
“First off, what is your name?”
“M...my…my name is Velvus Crassi, servant of Count Goldwine,” he said nervously. His hands were shaking violently, almost as if he were having a seizure or something.
“But you do not like your position, do you Velvus?”
“I…serve the Count with all my heart. It…it is an honor to serve him.”
“You lie, Velvus. We heard you complaining earlier when you came in this very room to get Goldwine his pillows. You didn’t seem to like him then. Have you changed your mind so quickly?”
He didn’t answer.
“There is no reason to be afraid. We the good guys, I promise. My name is Jena, A Blade agent. And this here is my friend, Rayden.”
When he heard my name his shaking stopped and he looked directly into my eyes. Suddenly his expression utter fear changed to one of absolute joy.
“Rayden? The savior of Cyrodiil? Oh my, my master has spoken of you many times! He loathes you more than anyone in the world! You’ve come to save me have you? Praise Talos, my prayers have finally been answered!”
He was almost at the point of yelling so Jena brought him back into reality and shoved his head into the wall once again. I didn’t really see the point in this but it proved effective.
“Shut up, you fool! Do you want Goldwine and Adamus coming in here and finding the three of us?”
“No, I’m quite sorry, miss, please forgive me. I am just so happy you two are here. I was once a citizen of Kvatch. You see, Count Goldwine betrayed everyone. Nobody, except for the soldiers I think, knew Goldwine was working with Mankar. When the Mythic Dawn came many tried to stand up against them. It was ill-performed effort though…many people died…including my wife and two children. They…were trying to fend off the cultists…and well, you can guess what happened.”
“And where were you during all of this?” Jena asked.
“I…was hiding in my room,” he replied shamefully.
“You were hiding while your family fought?” Jena asked angrily.
“Yes, I could not muster up the strength to help. I feel awful.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Jena said while kicking him in the stomach. “Awful enough to become the slave of Goldwine, eh? You worthless pig!” She proceeded to bash his head into the wall again, and this time I stopped her afterwards.
“Jena, control yourself. Anymore of this and he’ll die before we have a chance to get anything out of him.”
The fury was still there, but thankfully she ceased the punishments.
“You’re going to help us out, Velvus.”
He was now crying and clutching his stomach with one hand and his wounded forehead with the other.
“You’re going to knock on the door and inform Goldwine that he is wanted by a sailor on the deck. You understand? If you slip up and give away our position I swear you will die, even if I have to die as well just to kill you. Now go!”
She stood the man up and shoved him outside the closet. I absolutely could not believe what was going on. What did she think she was doing?
“What are you doing, Jena?”
“We’re going to kill Goldwine and Adamus before we land at the island.”
“But why? Why take such a risk?”
“Because I said so,” she said bluntly.
I was going to argue even further but Velvus had knocked on the door and Adamus had answered. I could see that Adamus had poked his head out. He was about to ask for his soup, but then he saw the wounds of Velvus.
“Where is my…what the? What happened to you?”
Velvus started to cry once more, looked over at our closet and yelled, “Intruders! There, in the closet!”
Then he took of running down the hallway. Before I could do anything Jena had bolted from our hiding spot and took of after Velvus. She ran right past Adamus, who was clearly confused by the event. Then he looked at me and immediately knew what was going on. He unsheathed his steel claymore and slowly walked towards me.
On to the next chapter
“Another traitor…I can’t wait to sink my blade into his treacherous skin.”
Jena was extremely angry. She was actually getting a little too loud and I had to clam her down before she gave away our hiding spot. She immediately calmed down and we watched as Adamus and Goldwine walked down the hallway towards us. They stopped at Goldwine’s door and then he unlocked it with a silver key. There were also two guards with them as well. Adamus and Goldwine then entered the room and shut then door, leaving the other two guards outside.
“What now?” I whispered to Jena.
“Just wait and see what happens I guess. Actually, I don’t think we should even try to do anything. Why not wait it out? Goldwine will eventually lead us to Mankar anyway. Isn’t that what we want after all?”
I suppose she was right, but it just felt so weird hiding in a closet. I mean, I’m of course used to sneaking around and hiding, but this is totally different.
“Yeah, I guess. How long do you think it will take to get to this island?”
“Not too long if it really is only a couple of miles from the coast; probably no more than thirty minutes or so I’d say. But it’s weird, I don’t recall there being an island. If it’s that close to land, wouldn’t have we noticed the island?”
I simply shrugged. I’ve never even been this far up in the northwest.
“Beats me. I’ve never been to this part of the province before.”
That ended the conversation, and we sat in silence as the ship finally set sail for the island. The ride was fairly smooth; although I shouldn’t have been surprised since the ship was no doubt in top-notch condition. This was Count Ormellius Goldwine after all. Things were going as planned until after ten minutes after we left Anvil. Jena I saw a stubby heavy-set Imperial with a mass of facial hair. He looked rather angry as if someone had stolen his lunch. He was mumbling something under his breath as he knocked on Goldwine’s door. He waited, rather impatiently I might add, for about fifteen seconds until at last the door was opened by Adamus.
“You needed something, sir?” The Imperial said, trying his best to mask his bad mood.
“Yes, the Count does not like the feel of his pillows and he wishes for you to fetch his some more. Oh, and while your at it fix me a bowl of stew afterwards,” Adamus said rather demandingly.
The Imperial merely nodded and then Adamus shut the door in his face. The short man grumbled a bit and walked over to our hiding spot. Jena and I dove behind the pillows and only hoped he would take the first one he saw instead of digging around. I was now very afraid and even almost regretted this hiding spot, but it was too late for second guess now.
He opened the door and poked his head inside, searching for the perfect pillow for his master. He was so close I could smell his breath because he was breathing so heavily, and let me tell you it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Also it appeared that the man enjoyed talking to himself. He was having a whole conversation!
“Stupid Goldwine and his new lackey, Adamus. They think they’re so tough. HA! They don’t even know lucky they are to be alive as it is. Surely the sneaky Rayden will slay them soon enough, just like they did Lex. Oh how happy I will be when that times comes, HA! Goldwine is so lucky that I’m on his side. If I was ever given the chance I’d hightail it out of here faster than you can say ‘Ormellius Goldwine’s a jerk!’”
It was so funny hearing the man talk to himself. Jena and I were on the verge of bursting out with laughter, but thankfully we were able to keep in quiet for the time being. The man finally grabbed a couple of pillows and left the closet and again knocked on Goldwine’s door. Adamus answered the knocking, took the pillows, and then reminded the man about his stew. He nodded at Adamus and left, likely for the kitchen.
As he trudged down the hallway in a slower-than-normal manner, Jena whispered something to me that immediately caught my attention.
“I’ve got an idea, Rayden. You heard that man when he was in here. He’s obviously not a fan of Goldwine and Adamus. I think we should that to our advantage.”
“How so?”
“Well, he is obviously not on good terms with Goldwine. Maybe there’s a story behind all of that.”
“So would do you want to do, bring him in here and interrogate him?”
“Yes. When he brings back Adamus’s meal you will wait until he starts down the hall, and then sneak up from behind. Here, use this to silence any screams he might have.”
She handed me a long piece of cloth, and I knew what to do with it. I would obviously have to wrap the cloth around the short Imperial’s mouth. So, not ten minutes later, the man returned with a bowl of stew. He knocked on the door for the third time, and once again, just as the other two times, Adamus answered the call. He took the bowl, raised a hand signaling for the short man to wait, and sniffed the bowl. Then he sneered at the short Imperial and aggressively handed him back the bowl. Stew splashed up into the short man’s face and Adamus growled, “It’s too cold. Warm it up.” Then he abruptly slammed the door in his face again.
The short man started to shake with anger and turned to walk back to warm the stew. Then I quietly opened the door and silently, but quickly, tiptoed over to the man and wrapped my towel around his head and gripped in tightly. He dropped the bowl of stew and it almost crashed to the ground, but thankfully I caught it with my right hand while still holding onto the towel with my other. I set the bowl peacefully to the ground, but unfortunately stew had spilled onto the red carpet that made up the floor of the ship. Goldwine wouldn’t like that at all.
The man swung his arms wildly, but with no prevails. Before the door of Goldwine’s room could be opened, I dragged the short man into the closet and then closed the door. Jena then slammed him to the floor, still keeping the cloth on his mouth. She ordered for him to stop his screaming and twitching, and when he did not she kicked him hard in the side and smash the side of his hide into the wall. A small gash appeared on the left side of his head and blood began to trickle down from the wound. Finally he obeyed her orders and was at last silent. So Jena lifted the cloth from his mouth and said softly, “Shut your mouth or I’ll cut your throat…”
I knew very well she was lying about that of course, but obviously I kept my mouth shut about that. It appeared her words were rather effective on the fat man.
“Yes, just don’t kill me…please!”
“You’re going to answer some questions for me and my partner.”
He nodded.
“First off, what is your name?”
“M...my…my name is Velvus Crassi, servant of Count Goldwine,” he said nervously. His hands were shaking violently, almost as if he were having a seizure or something.
“But you do not like your position, do you Velvus?”
“I…serve the Count with all my heart. It…it is an honor to serve him.”
“You lie, Velvus. We heard you complaining earlier when you came in this very room to get Goldwine his pillows. You didn’t seem to like him then. Have you changed your mind so quickly?”
He didn’t answer.
“There is no reason to be afraid. We the good guys, I promise. My name is Jena, A Blade agent. And this here is my friend, Rayden.”
When he heard my name his shaking stopped and he looked directly into my eyes. Suddenly his expression utter fear changed to one of absolute joy.
“Rayden? The savior of Cyrodiil? Oh my, my master has spoken of you many times! He loathes you more than anyone in the world! You’ve come to save me have you? Praise Talos, my prayers have finally been answered!”
He was almost at the point of yelling so Jena brought him back into reality and shoved his head into the wall once again. I didn’t really see the point in this but it proved effective.
“Shut up, you fool! Do you want Goldwine and Adamus coming in here and finding the three of us?”
“No, I’m quite sorry, miss, please forgive me. I am just so happy you two are here. I was once a citizen of Kvatch. You see, Count Goldwine betrayed everyone. Nobody, except for the soldiers I think, knew Goldwine was working with Mankar. When the Mythic Dawn came many tried to stand up against them. It was ill-performed effort though…many people died…including my wife and two children. They…were trying to fend off the cultists…and well, you can guess what happened.”
“And where were you during all of this?” Jena asked.
“I…was hiding in my room,” he replied shamefully.
“You were hiding while your family fought?” Jena asked angrily.
“Yes, I could not muster up the strength to help. I feel awful.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Jena said while kicking him in the stomach. “Awful enough to become the slave of Goldwine, eh? You worthless pig!” She proceeded to bash his head into the wall again, and this time I stopped her afterwards.
“Jena, control yourself. Anymore of this and he’ll die before we have a chance to get anything out of him.”
The fury was still there, but thankfully she ceased the punishments.
“You’re going to help us out, Velvus.”
He was now crying and clutching his stomach with one hand and his wounded forehead with the other.
“You’re going to knock on the door and inform Goldwine that he is wanted by a sailor on the deck. You understand? If you slip up and give away our position I swear you will die, even if I have to die as well just to kill you. Now go!”
She stood the man up and shoved him outside the closet. I absolutely could not believe what was going on. What did she think she was doing?
“What are you doing, Jena?”
“We’re going to kill Goldwine and Adamus before we land at the island.”
“But why? Why take such a risk?”
“Because I said so,” she said bluntly.
I was going to argue even further but Velvus had knocked on the door and Adamus had answered. I could see that Adamus had poked his head out. He was about to ask for his soup, but then he saw the wounds of Velvus.
“Where is my…what the? What happened to you?”
Velvus started to cry once more, looked over at our closet and yelled, “Intruders! There, in the closet!”
Then he took of running down the hallway. Before I could do anything Jena had bolted from our hiding spot and took of after Velvus. She ran right past Adamus, who was clearly confused by the event. Then he looked at me and immediately knew what was going on. He unsheathed his steel claymore and slowly walked towards me.
On to the next chapter